Under Three Heavy Mountains—Identity Construction and Subjectivity Struggle of Chinese Women Workers

Abstract

This paper examines contemporary Chinese women workers, whose experiences have gained increasing attention as rural labor forces migrate to urban areas and China’s status as the “factory of the world” evolves. It utilizes Pun Ngai’s ethnography “Made in China” as the primary text, alongside supporting texts such as “Rural Women in Urban China” (Jacka, 2006), “The change of factory regime in China and its impacts on workers” (Zhao, 2010). This paper provides a detailed analysis of the construction of these workers’ identities and their struggle for subjectivity. Confronted with triple oppression, female workers navigate and reshape their identities amidst the tensions between urban and rural settings.